A Week of Savory Oatmeal

 I've tried to like oatmeal for a long time. I can usually get about a week in before I am utterly sick of it. But I have found 2 solutions: steel cut oats and savory oatmeal. The first one I tried was the simplest. Just butter and salt. Man, it was good, so I decided to try more.

The next one I tried got rave reviews all over the internet. Mark Bittman told everyone his soy sauce and scallions version on NPR a few years ago, I guess. I was not a huge fan. I enjoyed it a lot more after I added a little sesame oil and some bonito flakes.

I tried this one with real sausage instead of vegetarian,  The gouda didn't really do anything for me, so I added sour cream. Pure perfection with the arugula and herbs.

I had some sausage left over the next day, so I made up my own version. I just added butter, salt, pepper, and plenty of dried sage. I think it turned out pretty good.

I saw some recipes touting the benefits of a fried egg on top of oats. I went full on Popeye and added a bunch of spinach, too. I added on olive oil, too. It turned out okay. Once the egg was gone there wasn't much flavor.

I decided to go all out and add bacon. I got the idea from MrBreakfast. I didn't go all fancy and cook the oats in milk, but the chives and cheese made this a delicious feast. If you try only one savory oats topping, this should be it. 

I've saved the best for last. I stole some of my man's fancy salt, grated in a bit of amazingly old cheddar, ground some pepper and topped with some olive oil. It was soooo good. I got the idea from this site. 

I am not sick of oatmeal yet and I found some really good combinations. If you're sick of the sweet and gooey normal oatmeal you have to try some of these ideas. As soon as I can find some good tomatoes I am going to try that, too! If you want more ideas you can check out the World Porridge Making Champion.